Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is one of the world’s oldest and most widely used vaccines. It was developed in the early 20th century to provide protection from tuberculosis. Surprisingly, this vaccine protects not only against tuberculosis but also reduces the risk for various other infections, through a mechanism called trained immunity. A new study led by SFB member Christoph Bock and Mihai Netea found that epigenetic cell states predict whether or not an individual profits from the “wake-up call” to the innate immune system that is provided by the BCG vaccine. This discovery contributes to the development of future therapeutics that induce protective trained immunity.
Published in Immunity
Simone J C F M Moorlag, Lukas Folkman, Rob Ter Horst, Thomas Krausgruber, Daniele Barreca, Linda C Schuster, Victoria Fife, Vasiliki Matzaraki, Wenchao Li, Stephan Reichl, Vera P Mourits, Valerie A C M Koeken, L Charlotte J de Bree, Helga Dijkstra, Heidi Lemmers, Bram van Cranenbroek, Esther van Rijssen, Hans J P M Koenen, Irma Joosten, Cheng-Jian Xu, Yang Li, Leo A B Joosten, Reinout van Crevel, Mihai G Netea, Christoph Bock
Multi-omics analysis of innate and adaptive responses to BCG vaccination reveals epigenetic cell states that predict trained immunity
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2023.12.005
